More On Nationwide Debit Card

[JAS21]

Today I used my Flex Account card for the first time..have had it months after reading about advantages on this forum, but never put any money into the account.

So a few days ago I 'internetted' £500 into the account from another UK bank account.

Today I took out 10000 Baht (Bangkok Bank ATM m/c)...couldn't find what rate I got so later phoned Nationwide in the UK.

They said that the sum of £147.20 had be 'earmarked' against my account.

If correct this sums to an exchange rate of 67.93

Bangkok bank (info on their web site) were quoting an exchange rate of

for £ notes...67.13

For travelleers cheques...67.86

For Telex Transfer....68.03

So can't complain.

Is there a way of finding out the exchange rate other than the way I did? THANKS

Edited March 23, 2007 by John45

[macb]

If you have internet banking with Nationwide you can see there exchange rate at the ATM when you access your full statement.

The link below will give you a fairly true exchange rate Natiowide are not normally far from this.

On the 21st at the ATM they were giving 68.042 Moneycorp as this moment in time are showing Thai Baht to UK pound as 69.031

hope this is of some use

[Heng]

Can folks who aren't British citizens... say, Americans open Nationwide accounts in the UK? Sounds like a rather convenient/low cost way to expatriate funds.

[topfield]

If you have internet banking with Nationwide you can see there exchange rate at the ATM when you access your full statement.

The link below will give you a fairly true exchange rate Natiowide are not normally far from this.

On the 21st at the ATM they were giving 68.042 Moneycorp as this moment in time are showing Thai Baht to UK pound as 69.031

hope this is of some use

No need to call N/W !! You will see the earmarked amount on online banking within seconds of an ATM withdrawal . This can function as a test before making a large withdrawal...ie withdraw 200 baht .

Finally can some one please explain

Moneycorp

as used in previous posting .

Thanks

[Pattayaman]

Can folks who aren't British citizens... say, Americans open Nationwide accounts in the UK? Sounds like a rather convenient/low cost way to expatriate funds.

Yoy need a UK address to open an account

[Lickey]

Nationwide is a brilliant banking service, ive been with them 30+ years, never been charged for overseas withdrawals, daily limit being the equivilant of 250quid in local curency, they do an on-line swift transfer which costs 20quid each time, also an off-shore banking service, check the website for this, perhaps you could be eligble? after all, many of the worlds richest people have a Swiss bank account, and have never been or have an address in Switzerland, Also i dont have a UK address anymore....

[JAS21]

If you have internet banking with Nationwide you can see there exchange rate at the ATM when you access your full statement.

The link below will give you a fairly true exchange rate Natiowide are not normally far from this.

On the 21st at the ATM they were giving 68.042 Moneycorp as this moment in time are showing Thai Baht to UK pound as 69.031

hope this is of some use

No need to call N/W !! You will see the earmarked amount on online banking within seconds of an ATM withdrawal . This can function as a test before making a large withdrawal...ie withdraw 200 baht .

Finally can some one please explain

Moneycorp

as used in previous posting .

Thanks

Moneycorpe is a large company who will transfer funds for you..see www.moneycorp.com you agree a price with them..transfer funds GPB or whatever within 3 days and then the baht is transferred into your thailand account.

I have an account with them ..last tme I asked they would not trade the baht..so I used SWIFT (telex transfer) and got rhe onshore rate at Bangkok Bank...see earlier thread re limit of about 800,000 Baht without having to prove what you want the money for.

[JAS21]

If you have internet banking with Nationwide you can see there exchange rate at the ATM when you access your full statement.

The link below will give you a fairly true exchange rate Natiowide are not normally far from this.

On the 21st at the ATM they were giving 68.042 Moneycorp as this moment in time are showing Thai Baht to UK pound as 69.031

hope this is of some use

No need to call N/W !! You will see the earmarked amount on online banking within seconds of an ATM withdrawal . This can function as a test before making a large withdrawal...ie withdraw 200 baht .

Finally can some one please explain

Moneycorp

as used in previous posting .

Thanks

Thanks..I don't have on-line banking with them yet..I will sort it...I am getting my wife an Isle of Man Nationwide International account...maybe not the best interest rate..about 5.2% but tax free..better than me paying 40%

[Heng]

Can folks who aren't British citizens... say, Americans open Nationwide accounts in the UK? Sounds like a rather convenient/low cost way to expatriate funds.

Yoy need a UK address to open an account

Cool, thanks.

[topfield]

If you have internet banking with Nationwide you can see there exchange rate at the ATM when you access your full statement.

The link below will give you a fairly true exchange rate Natiowide are not normally far from this.

On the 21st at the ATM they were giving 68.042 Moneycorp as this moment in time are showing Thai Baht to UK pound as 69.031

hope this is of some use

No need to call N/W !! You will see the earmarked amount on online banking within seconds of an ATM withdrawal . This can function as a test before making a large withdrawal...ie withdraw 200 baht .

Finally can some one please explain

Moneycorp

as used in previous posting .

Thanks

Moneycorpe is a large company who will transfer funds for you..see www.moneycorp.com you agree a price with them..transfer funds GPB or whatever within 3 days and then the baht is transferred into your thailand account.

I have an account with them ..last tme I asked they would not trade the baht..so I used SWIFT (telex transfer) and got rhe onshore rate at Bangkok Bank...see earlier thread re limit of about 800,000 Baht without having to prove what you want the money for.

Thanks for the info on moneycorp !

[topfield]

Want to know the EXACT rate you will get using your N/W card ?

Today is THE day......Saturday.

Just make a 200/500 baht ATM withdrawal NOW.

Tomorrow morning /afternoon you will have the rate YOU GOT on your online banking statement.

You then have a period of twelve to twenty four hours to make withdrawals at the same rate .

This is because the rate will not change until Monday morning.

Edited March 24, 2007 by topfield

[highchol]

Want to know the EXACT rate you will get using your N/W card ?

Today is THE day......Saturday.

Just make a 200/500 baht ATM withdrawal NOW.

Tomorrow morning /afternoon you will have the rate YOU GOT on your online banking statement.

You then have a period of twelve to twenty four hours to make withdrawals at the same rate .

This is because the rate will not change until Monday morning.

I have been using my nationwide debit card at my local bangkok bank ATM everyday for last 15 ( mrs highchol has decided she wants a new car ).

As you can imagine I have been paying a little closer attention to the exchange rates than I normaly would.

Every day except for yesterday i have got a better exchange than the one published by bangkok bank ( i refer TT rate )

So I am more than happy using this method, I cant see me using TT method again.

Yesterday I got 67.937 and the bank closing rate was 68.07

I assume as there was a lot of volitility yesterday ( Bangkok bank had 9 rates yesterday ) I got the rate when the transaction was processed.

A point to note is that when you check your balance you will see that the amount has been debited immediately. It is possible this amount can change alittle when the account is settled at the end of the day. This has happened twice to me but only a few pence was the difference.

the best rate I have got was on the 21st march 68.045

[Steve2UK]

I have been using my nationwide debit card at my local bangkok bank ATM everyday for last 15 ( mrs highchol has decided she wants a new car ).

As you can imagine I have been paying a little closer attention to the exchange rates than I normaly would.

Every day except for yesterday i have got a better exchange than the one published by bangkok bank ( i refer TT rate )

So I am more than happy using this method, I cant see me using TT method again.

Yesterday I got 67.937 and the bank closing rate was 68.07

I assume as there was a lot of volitility yesterday ( Bangkok bank had 9 rates yesterday ) I got the rate when the transaction was processed.

A point to note is that when you check your balance you will see that the amount has been debited immediately. It is possible this amount can change alittle when the account is settled at the end of the day. This has happened twice to me but only a few pence was the difference.

the best rate I have got was on the 21st march 68.045

Sounds like you were making daily withdrawals up to the maximum (usually 20,000 baht) to build up a larger sum over time? If so - and if your Nationwide card is a Debit Card (blue) as opposed to just an ATM Cash Card (red) - did you know that you can go into the bank and make an over the counter withdrawal of much larger amounts? I did it twice (at SCB, as it happens) once for 100,000 and then later for 400,000 baht. Effectively, it's the same as using the Debit Card for a store goods purchase - just that the bank gives you the cash when you sign the voucher. No TT/Swift charges - and you get the cash on the spot. As it happens, the SCB cashier did ask me what the 400,000 was for (advance annual rent payment), but I don't know if this was a checking procedure or just conversation because they don't get many customers doing it. BTW, I do have an SCB savings account book which I waved, but I got the impression that this was irrelevant.

If you have Nationwide internet banking and the means to inject the required funds for your planned withdrawal into your Nationwide FlexAccount (e.g. from a Nationwide or other savings/deposit acount), it seems that you can do the whole exercise very simply and quickly. In the future, when I will need an annual O-A retirement visa renewal, I plan to use this route to get the required 800,000 baht from the UK into my Thai SCB savings account.

I echo what other have said about seeing the rate you get by just checking your Nationwide account online - who cares what the rates quoted elsewhere

are when what counts is the rate you're actually getting? As it happens, I've found the ThaiVisa mid-point rate to be pretty consistent with what I get through Nationwide - maybe a tad lower, if anything.

[highchol]

I have been using my nationwide debit card at my local bangkok bank ATM everyday for last 15 ( mrs highchol has decided she wants a new car ).

As you can imagine I have been paying a little closer attention to the exchange rates than I normaly would.

Every day except for yesterday i have got a better exchange than the one published by bangkok bank ( i refer TT rate )

So I am more than happy using this method, I cant see me using TT method again.

Yesterday I got 67.937 and the bank closing rate was 68.07

I assume as there was a lot of volitility yesterday ( Bangkok bank had 9 rates yesterday ) I got the rate when the transaction was processed.

A point to note is that when you check your balance you will see that the amount has been debited immediately. It is possible this amount can change alittle when the account is settled at the end of the day. This has happened twice to me but only a few pence was the difference.

the best rate I have got was on the 21st march 68.045

Sounds like you were making daily withdrawals up to the maximum (usually 20,000 baht) to build up a larger sum over time? If so - and if your Nationwide card is a Debit Card (blue) as opposed to just an ATM Cash Card (red) - did you know that you can go into the bank and make an over the counter withdrawal of much larger amounts? I did it twice (at SCB, as it happens) once for 100,000 and then later for 400,000 baht. Effectively, it's the same as using the Debit Card for a store goods purchase - just that the bank gives you the cash when you sign the voucher. No TT/Swift charges - and you get the cash on the spot. As it happens, the SCB cashier did ask me what the 400,000 was for (advance annual rent payment), but I don't know if this was a checking procedure or just conversation because they don't get many customers doing it. BTW, I do have an SCB savings account book which I waved, but I got the impression that this was irrelevant.

If you have Nationwide internet banking and the means to inject the required funds for your planned withdrawal into your Nationwide FlexAccount (e.g. from a Nationwide or other savings/deposit acount), it seems that you can do the whole exercise very simply and quickly. In the future, when I will need an annual O-A retirement visa renewal, I plan to use this route to get the required 800,000 baht from the UK into my Thai SCB savings account.

I echo what other have said about seeing the rate you get by just checking your Nationwide account online - who cares what the rates quoted elsewhere

are when what counts is the rate you're actually getting? As it happens, I've found the ThaiVisa mid-point rate to be pretty consistent with what I get through Nationwide - maybe a tad lower, if anything.

yep ive been taking the max 20k then paying it into my bkk bank account.

I know about the larger amounts from the boothes which ive done in the past but im happy with this drip approach which overtime will give me an average.

Im such an unlucky sod, you could bet money that if i take a big lump of cash one day the next day the rate wpould improve significantly.

Ofcourse i look at the trend and should it change then i will hold off awhile.

I do use the internet banking which i think is great.

on your other topic nationwide rules i am sure they will never accept email notification of an address change but the "secure" message system on the internet banking may be ok. Give them a try. Dont expect quick answer though. I used it to contact them about a mortgage queerie and it took 2 weeks to get a reply.

[topfield]

Congratulations to john 45 as he has discovered and is using a new super benefit for non UK resident expats of the Nationwide card !

By opening a second account with Nationwide International IOM he is getting a good (but not the best)

tax free interest rate on his savings and is able to transfer almost immediately to Nationwide onshore monies he needs in connection with his onshore debit card.( offshore do not offer a card)

N/W IOM have a terminal in their office to make immediate free transfers to N/W onshore !!

Sadly not the other way round for IRC reasons ( when it will take a couple of days).

ps earmark rate today : 68.12

[Khun Bob]

Topfield - you dont mention the visa website for rates here :

http://corporate.visa.com/pd/consumer_serv...HB&rate=0.0

Is this now not the way to find out ?

Doing the small withdrawl and then looking at the on-line statement can be a bit risky as in the past I have found nationwide to allocate an amount to the withdrawl first, which is more than required - if you use this amount as a basis for the exchange rate calculation is will be below the real rate. Only after a ceratin period of time will the actual rate used be shown and any extra withheld returned to the nationwide account.

Please correct me if i am wrong....

Also Steve2UK, could you please go into a bit more detail on the card withdrawl in branch... Can you mention what you asked for, where it was, if you had any problems, what forms you had to complete, if the rate SCB were going to give you was known before the transaction and anyting else the TV people may find useful... Cheers

[topfield]

Topfield - you dont mention the visa website for rates here :

http://corporate.visa.com/pd/consumer_serv...HB&rate=0.0

Is this now not the way to find out ?

Doing the small withdrawl and then looking at the on-line statement can be a bit risky as in the past I have found nationwide to allocate an amount to the withdrawl first, which is more than required - if you use this amount as a basis for the exchange rate calculation is will be below the real rate. Only after a ceratin period of time will the actual rate used be shown and any extra withheld returned to the nationwide account.

Please correct me if i am wrong....

Also Steve2UK, could you please go into a bit more detail on the card withdrawl in branch... Can you mention what you asked for, where it was, if you had any problems, what forms you had to complete, if the rate SCB were going to give you was known before the transaction and anyting else the TV people may find useful... Cheers

Hi Kun Bob,

Nice to see you back again !

Nope...the test withdrawal method is more accurate.

Think about it. The corporate online rate changes just once a day...yet the rate can move substantially during the day.

The 'earmarked' rate changes several times a day...how many times I dont know as one would have to make hourly withdrawals of 200 baht to find out ( plse do so if you've the time and patience)

The earmarked rate is usually astonishingly accurate .

PS

An amazing tip : Even the earmarked rate is an hour or two behind and you can take advantage of that.

One day a few weeks ago, the pound suddenly dropped a couple of cents. I rushed to the ATM , was there in 10 minutes and took out my 20K. Unbelievably I got the earmarked rate even though the pound had dropped substantially.

The lesson : take advantage of the delay and realise it works both ways : this weekend I did not withdraw at an earmarked , later proved accurate rate of 68.07..instead waited until today when I knew the rate would be higher !!

[Steve2UK]

Also Steve2UK, could you please go into a bit more detail on the card withdrawl in branch... Can you mention what you asked for, where it was, if you had any problems, what forms you had to complete, if the rate SCB were going to give you was known before the transaction and anyting else the TV people may find useful... Cheers

Both withdrawals were made at a large branch of Siam Commercial Bank in Chiang Mai (Hang Dong Road near to Airport Plaza - for those who live in CM). At this branch, they have someone who greets everyone who walks into the bank and directs them to the appropriate desk - either an adviser-type at a desk or one of the cashiers' positions. The first time, I just told the greeter that I wanted to draw 100,000 baht from my UK Nationwide account using my Debit Card and she directed me to take a seat to wait for one of the advisers to be free. After I waited about 5 minutes, a manager-type came over and apologised for the long wait (!) and asked what I wanted; I showed him the NW debit card and said that I wanted to draw 100,000. He took the card and came back a couple of minutes later to tell me to wait in line for cashier # 3. When I got to that cashier, she already had the payment slip for me to sign and counted out the cash. As I mentioned in my previous post, it's just the same kind of till receipt that you'd sign for a card purchase in a store - just that you get the cash rather than goods.

Second time (for 400,000 baht) was the same except that I was directed straight to the cashiers' line and she did it all there and then. Both times, they did take a photocopy of my passport which I was asked to sign - but that's all the paperwork I remember apart from signing the till receipt.

No discussion about SCB exchange rates - because they aren't doing the exchange. As I understand it (just as with ATM withdrawals), they just get themselves 100,000/400,000 baht paid to them by my UK card-issuer - Nationwide, in this case. So, the cost to me in sterling from my NW account is according to whatever exchange rate NW are operating at the time my account is debited. When I checked the rate for these transactions, it was in line with what I was then getting for ATM withdrawals for 10,000/20,000 baht.

I can imagine that the procedure is more reliably straightforward at a bigger branch that sees a fair number of farang customers rather than a small out-of-the-way branch (cf. the problems some people have opening accounts etc at small branches) - but this SCB branch plainly regarded it as routine. They may have been extra helpful because I was also showing that I was an SCB customer by having my savings account book with me - but they certainly didn't want to check that or make the payment into it. As far as I know, anyone can do the same at any other bank - the same as you can use any of the bank ATM's that recognise your card.

Finally, please note that it must be a Debit Card - not just a Cash Card................ in the same way that you can't use a Cash Card for store purchases.

[Khun Bob]

Topfield - thanks for the good info and tips - as always...

Steve2UK - thanks for the best explanation yet for this method - I've asked quite a few times and your explanation is the best. On the reciept you get, do you get an opportunity to say what the transfer was for i.e. subsistence, apartment purchase etc - I'm guess this isnt the case - but could be useful if it was...

[Steve2UK]

Topfield - thanks for the good info and tips - as always...

Steve2UK - thanks for the best explanation yet for this method - I've asked quite a few times and your explanation is the best. On the reciept you get, do you get an opportunity to say what the transfer was for i.e. subsistence, apartment purchase etc - I'm guess this isnt the case - but could be useful if it was...

Khun Bob - mai pen rai krub . They didn't offer that facility and I didn't ask for it - so, I doubt it but I also can't say it's impossible........ As I mentioned, on the second occasion (several weeks after the first - so no connection between the two) the cashier did ask what the 400,000 baht was for, but this came across to me as being just polite chat......